England footie officials appeal to FIFA to judge 2018 Cup bid vote fairly

LONDON - England’s 2018 World Cup bid team has written to the FIFA executive committee to make its decision on the merits of their bid.

Chairman Geoff Thompson and international president David Dein are seeking to put England’s campaign back on track, the BBC reports.

The vote takes place on December 2.

England is facing defeat after a backlash from FIFA members in response to an investigation by the Sunday Times into alleged corruption in the bidding process.

England 2018 also fears an upcoming BBC Panorama investigation into FIFA, due to be screened on November 29, could upset their bid.

“We hope England’s bid will not be judged negatively due to the activities of individual media organizations, regardless of one’s view of their conduct, Thompson and Dein wrote.

In writing the letter, England 2018 hope to have countered any suggestions that they may have somehow colluded with the Sunday Times or BBC investigations. They also hope to have demonstrated to the FIFA members that they are part of the football family. ANI)